Monster
by Raico
Summary: "I was in a parallel world. Not too crazy, considering what I usually deal with. The superheroes thing was new but I could handle that. Everything, even my homicidal war-crazed aunt, was manageable. However, out of all that, it was having the God of Mischief as my main ally that got me worried. What was wrong with me?" AU-Post Avengers. LokixOC
1. Prologue

Hello, everyone!  
It's been forever since I've written fanfic so I'm a bit rusty, but this idea has been stuck in my head.  
I'm use to my own original stories so constructive criticism is welcome.  
**The first few chapters won't heavily feature canon-characters but please stick with me. The set up is always grueling.**

**Info:** Viola is from my original book series that is not finished. This story contains spoilers from the end of her series. You can read the first book and some of the second on my fictionpress, but this might spoil a lot of it. It's a horror/supernatural series with a side of Greek mythology so there will be touch of that in this. I will try to explain things from her world as best I can, but if anything doesn't get explained and needs to be, feel free to let me know and I'll work it in.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the Avengers or Marvel universe. I do however own Viola and her universe. Please do not use without permission.

**Warning: This story will feature gore, violence, sexual content, and language. **

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**Prologue**

Pain blocked anything from registering. Breath-taking, nausea inducing, earth shattering pain. The cold tile beneath my cheek did nothing to soothe the burn coursing through my veins and eating at my skin. Forcing a gasp, I took a deep breath and willed myself not to throw up. My head throbbed, trying to understand where I was and what had happened.

"_Vi, don't! Come back!" her voice, hysterical, had attempted to call me back. I ignored it._

It felt like there were cotton balls shoved into my ears; loud shouts firing all around me. I couldn't decipher what was going on, just the in and out of my lungs as they struggled to get me air.

Reason told me I wouldn't die from this. I couldn't die from this. That didn't stop me from feeling as if I were going to die.

"_Breathe. In. Out. Concentrate. It's only magic,"_ I thought to myself. Only magic. What a joke. I knew how dangerous magic could be and it was anything but harmless.

Taking a deep, deep breath, I adjusted my bearings and let my aura settle around me. Once my breathing was under control, I tried to get a sense of the place I was at. There was hardly any magic here, wherever that was. People everywhere. Humans, most of them complete magical duds. Not a bad thing, but if the screaming was any kind of hint, they were scared.

Of me, most likely.

I expanded my reach tentatively. Almost like I had touched a live wire, every alarm went off in my head at once, ripping through my skull. My senses screamed at the enemy standing only a few feet away. _Run. Kill. Run Kill runkillrunkill _back and forth the words echoed to do something before they did. Rage flooded me, wiping away the physical pain until everything stood out in startlingly clear detail.

I was in a large, concrete hanger, almost like an indoor parking lot. People surrounded me, most in uniform carrying weapons at the ready while others stood in a widening array of costumes from a metal suit to what looked like medieval armor. A light flickered ominously overhead, shadows dancing over them all. But I could see her. She stood out like a beacon in my mind. Bright blue eyes that matched my own, wide and playing at innocent. She stood behind the wall of people, almost as if she were being shielded from me. Not a trace of the blood thirsty killer I knew showed. She looked human and normal.

It didn't matter. I'd rip her throat out with my bare hands and enjoy it.

A hand touched my shoulder hesitantly and my body reacted, years of instinct taking over before my mind could properly evaluate the situation. The man screamed and I blinked, already springing myself into a kneeling position as he cradled his broken elbow. Everyone moved into action, yells breaking out and echoing all around.

The voices were so loud you couldn't properly tell what they were saying. But their guns were pointing my way and _she_ was being pushed behind a protective wall and _we couldn't have that_.

Pushing off my toes, I broke into a sprint, heading straight for the group of costumed protectors. More shouts bounced around me, obvious confusion painting them all. They'd expected me to run away from them, not towards them. They couldn't shoot without risking hitting one of their own.

The guy in the metal suit raised his hands, bright blue circles lighting up in his palms. I braced myself to dodge, but didn't have to as a man in patriotic gear grabbed his wrists to stop him in case he hit someone else. Using this as a distraction, I tried to gather as much energy as I could and concentrate it. The world was still shaky and the extreme absence of magic in the air made me feel disturbingly empty, but that didn't stop me.

Heat bubbled into my hands and I launched it in front of them, a fairly medium size fire bursting as they all scrambled to move away. A gap. Enough of a hole that I could slip pass with minimum effort.

I ran through, the fire licking off my skin painlessly, and had her throat in my hand in the time it took them to blink. Using my momentum, I slammed her into the ground, squeezing with everything I had in my tired body.

Her eyes caught mine as she began to flail, clawing at my hand as if she were helpless. I furrowed my brow and if I had been looking away, I would have caught the almost invisible smirk that danced at her lips. Something was wrong. She wasn't fighting back. Why wasn't she fighting back?

_"Don't act as if you are any better than I," she growled, claws digging into the flesh of my neck, "You crave the violence that comes with a kill. You don't kill the helpless because of some moral duty. You abstain because it's _no fun._ You want them kicking and screaming with everything they have."_

Where was the power that had brought our world to its knees? Where was the impossible magic that stole everything I loved away? _Why wasn't she fighting back?_

"_We are the same, Viola darling. I am you and you are me. No matter what you believe, we only have each other." She grinned._

Bringing her up by her throat, I slammed her back down hard into the concrete, baring my teeth as I shook with fury. No. I could end this. I could end her like this, gone without a fight and the world a better place. She wouldn't be able to hurt me anymore. No more loves taken, no more funerals. She'd be gone, once and for all.

A cold whisper slithered over my skin, a mere hint of the power that I knew she was capable of.

"_Sleep tight, darling."_

I didn't have time to question the declaration in my head. A sharp pain stabbed into my shoulder and, from experience (far too many to count) I knew it was an arrow. I didn't reach up to pull it out. They could keep shooting. I desperately tried to tighten my grip on her, but all I could see was the laughter in her eyes.

No, she wasn't going to get away. No no no no no-

Large hands grasped my shoulders, yanking me off of her with far too much ease and pulling me away even as I screamed and shouted with everything I had left. Someone ripped the arrow out of my shoulder brutally. Hands and bodies buried me under their mass as handcuffs were snapped around my wrists. My body was going cold, numb, the feeling spreading from the wound in my shoulder to the rest of my body.

It was a sedative. Damn.

Eyelids heavy, I could barely make out the fake trail of tears streaming down her face as everyone sought to help her up. With the mask she was keeping up, she looked like an innocent little doll.

I could only laugh humorlessly as the drug finally brought me to sleep.

That bitch.

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**This story is an experiment. I have some chapters written so far but if there isn't any interest in it then I probably won't continue it. I still have to write Viola's series and with work and roller derby, time is precious. **

**So please review and let me know what you think.**


	2. Chapter 1

****Here's the actual first chapter.  
I don't usually update this fast but it was already written and this gives you a sense of what actually is happening.  
This and the next chapter will be light on canon. Once again, stick with me.

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**1**

You can only wake up so many times on a concrete floor before you get tired of it. I felt heavy and sick and the damn headache pounding through my skull needed to quit.

Groaning, I rolled onto my back and made the mistake of blinking up at the florescent bulbs blaring down at me. I let out another miserable groan and squeezed my eyes shut, willing the world to disappear.

Was it too much to ask to be able to sink into the floor and disappear?

Letting my eyes slowly adjust, I squinted and swiveled my head around, trying to figure out where I was. A cell. That much was obvious. I would have been disappointed in the humans if they hadn't put me in one. Better yet, this wasn't your average four by four with bars. This one was large with a concrete floor, no chairs or beds, and had glass walls all around. The cage from Silence of the Lambs came to mind and I tried not to huff in annoyance. Creativity was a dying thing, no matter what world I was in.

It wasn't hard to spot the cameras mounted on the outside either. Years of hanging around techno-geeks had made it easy for me to catch them. At one point it was essential since Cameron kept putting them in everyone's rooms, hoping to catch something embarrassing.

My heart clenched at the memory. Everything over the past day played in my mind like some sort of sick slideshow. The fire. The magic flare. The damn storm. She was back. Years of war and pain and every fucking death had been for nothing. She was back and everything had been in vain.

And I had followed her, so blinded by anger that I hadn't stopped to think about what was happening. All I could see was his broken body, having died for nothing. I'd flipped. A year of mourning had beaten me down but seeing her had been the breaking point.

Rage filled me again but I squashed it down. Later. Not now. Think first, act later. Jack would've been proud of me. Maybe I had learned something after all.

Sitting up, my body protested the action. Everything was stiff from sleeping on the floor and most likely from the less than graceful entry into this world. Once upon a time, I had thought the Change would make me into some super being who never felt pain. In actuality, nothing had really changed except my mortality status and a few extra perks. That didn't mean much in this place. The lack of magic coated my skin and lungs with each breath, making everything seem dull. I had once complained that I hated the feel of magic, the light feel of ants crawling all over you. I was missing it oddly enough.

I reached behind me and felt for where the arrow had hit me. Nothing. It had already healed. At least I had that. Genetics would always come through. The fireball had used up most of my reserve, but my body was still healing normally. Well, as normally as someone like me could.

Glancing around, I figured it'd be safe to get a feel for the room. Whoever had locked me up hadn't bothered to keep a guard posted. I sat in a glass box in a larger concrete box. How exciting…

Taking a deep breath, I threw out my aura so I could see what magic actually did exist here. My reflection in the glass in front of me lit up, eyes glowing like a blue light special. I had never quite mastered how to do this without making them do that.

The world was white, unnervingly so. Back home, everything was painted in some color. Red for shifters, green for witches, red for vamps, something. Even some of the humans had tints to them. This place was completely and utterly white. I was in a magical dud. A stone sunk into the pit of my stomach. The last time I had been in a place this white had been in a military base full of anti-Hidden soldiers. Experience taught me that people, especially humans, didn't take kindly to things that were beyond them. I definitely fit into that category.

"Impressive headlights."

I blinked the aura away and swiveled around, trying to rein in the annoyance that someone had managed to sneak up on me. Years of training slowly was trickling down the drain.

A man in a long, black leather trench coat stood next to the door, hands held behind his back as he peered at me intensely. His stance screamed military, respect, someone high up the chain. Skin a dark brown, a permanent frown tilting the corner of his lips, one black eye glared into mine. He had an eye patch. An actual eye patch. A pirate joke was at the tip of my tongue almost like a reflex, but I swallowed it. Something told me the sarcasm wouldn't be appreciated at the moment.

All this progress and no one to see it. How disappointing.

"I would say the same, but I have a feeling any references to eyes or ,y'know, cyclopses won't be as welcomed." Okay, only half insulting. I could do that.

He glared and walked forward, circling around until he stood in front of me, "My name is Nick Fury and I'm the Director of SHIELD. You mind telling who you are, exactly?"

Straightening my back, I crossed my legs indian style and rested my arms on my knees. The faint whirl of a rotating camera told me I was being watched actively now. Wonderful.

I hadn't heard of SHIELD back home. It was obviously military, Fury and the soldiers that had almost shot me full of holes was a dead giveaway. My guess: they were a lesser known division. The Director didn't dress in the usual uniform and the cage wasn't normal construct. I was feeling uneasy. Military put me off.

Cocking an eyebrow, I shrugged, "Viola Huntington. Anything more than a name wouldn't be much use to you. Cultural differences and all that."

Fury moved his hands from behind his back so he could cross them in front. The guy rubbed me the wrong way, almost like a police chief I had once answered to during my contracted time with the Dallas Police Department. No non-sense and all joy withered and died around him. All you had to do was trade the eye-patch for a caterpillar mustache and you were set.

"Why are you here, Miss Huntington?" he asked. The question was loaded. It wasn't obvious, but years of dealing with Hidden politics set off the alarms.

"I didn't exactly have a choice. The storm brought me here when I was chasing-" I couldn't bring myself to say her name. To say it was to confirm that she was here, alive and very much _not burning in Hell_. I could only finish it with a lame, "after _her."_

His eyes- _eye_ narrowed and he took a step forward, "You admit you were attempting to kill Lily Abaddon?"

I frowned at the name, "Lily? Is that what she's calling herself?" She could have been a bit more creative than that, but apparently no one had noticed the obvious hint.

"Just answer the question."

The command was almost a growl and I wondered what the hell she had been up to between the times she had come into this world and when I had shown up. They were protective of her, fiercely so. "Believe me, everyone would have been much better off with her gone."

"That's a manner of interpretation. She wasn't the one that threatened the safety of my men and proceeded to bash in the head of an innocent woman," Fury spoke evenly, but there was no mistaking the heat slipping into his voice with each declaration.

"Innocent," I scoffed with narrowed my eyes, "What has she been telling you?"

Fury paced a bit in front of my glass cell, sending a blinking glance at one of the cameras, "Miss Abaddon let us know about the world you two came from. How there was a war between humans and the monsters known as the Hiddens, how you were a leader to them and had attempted to kill her more than a few times."

My heart sped up, mind flashing back to how she had looked. Innocent. Unassuming. Helpless. Shit.

"Is that it?" I asked.

From the glare and obvious tension in his shoulders, the answer was no, "She told us what you are, Miss Huntington. The daughter to the god of death, Thanatos."

_"You can try until the end of time, but you can't escape who you are. First daughter to an Original, a daughter of death. Every breath you take steals another life. Can you live with that?"_

The words stuck in the back of my mind and I took struggled to keep my voice from shaking, "And you believe her?"

He shrugged, "It's not the strangest thing I've come across."

Chuckling dryly, I stood, "And there it is. You chose to believe the first innocent face that lands at your feet because she tells you that the monster is coming. Humans are such a joke."

"Miss Abaddon has been helpful in discovering the differences between your world and ours but that doesn't garner absolute trust. You sealed the deal yourself when you threatened our lives."

That was her play. Let them see me as the villain and play the hero.

"You've got to be kidding me," I growled, "She's the real danger yet I'm the one stuck in the cage. There are far worse evils than me and you're letting the worst one do whatever she pleases. If you don't let me out, you're going to regret it."

"Not an option."

"That wasn't a request!" I yelled, fists clenched. Reasoning was losing out and all I could think of was how she was playing them all. She was going to take me out before this even started all because of a few naïve humans.

He raised his head, anger burning in his gaze as he drew himself taller, "I'd be very careful, Miss Huntington. I don't care where you are from. This is our world and your life is in our hands."

My control was slipping quickly. Heat rushed over my skin and wrapped around me. "You think it matters what world we're in? You keep me in here and things will get much worse. Let. Me. Out. _Now!_" My voice sliced through the air, sharp and almost tangible. The light above me buzzed, cracked, then shattered. Shit.

In that moment, my fate was sealed. Director Fury stared into my darkened cell and shook his head, "Get comfortable, Miss Huntington. You're going to be in there for quite a while." And with that, he left.

I wanted to scream at the injustice of it all. Scream until my voice was hoarse that this was all part of her plan and why the fuck weren't they listening to me. I wanted to pound on the glass until my knuckles were raw and bleeding. Most of all, I wanted to rip her lying throat out.

Instead, I sank to the floor and wondered just how broken and helpless she had made me.

* * *

Hours had passed. I wasn't sure how many, but I knew it had been a good while. I wasn't in tune with this place. Back home, I could almost feel time ticking by, the precise moment the sun disappeared and when it rose back up again. It had been necessary for survival. Every race had its prime hunting time and when you're a Hunter, it's important to know when.

As odd as the statement sounded in my head, I wasn't use to dealing with solely humans. Years of fighting fiends, Hiddens, and the genetically altered had made me forget how it was to face normal people. Half-human or not, I'd been around Hiddens too much. I had been raised believing I was normal. After that thought was shot in the face by figuring out that my dad just so happened to be the god of death, my perception changed and I had unwittingly developed a new identity. I wasn't sure I liked it.

Not like I had a choice.

I was a Hidden. Fury had been told the truth in that aspect. In fact, most of what she had told him had been true. There was a war and I had tried to kill her. But it hadn't been that clean cut. The war had been of her making and I hadn't purposefully sided with the Hiddens, but the people I loved most just so happened to be of the not-so-human variety.

And I was the daughter of Thanatos, but again, I couldn't really help that. I hadn't even known until I was twenty-two. You can't fault me for that.

A tingling at my back, both soothingly familiar and entirely unwanted, was the first give away that I wasn't alone. My aura fed on the faint hint of magic hungrily, instinctually. This world was making me starved for it. My body was trying to replenish as much energy as I could. I tried not to appear affected though. It wouldn't do any good to give her that advantage over me.

"You have no idea how long I have wanted to see you like this," her voice slid over my skin, any hint of the helpless being I had strangled earlier disappearing. There was a distinct echo in her voice that came with power and age, her magic woven in with every word. In truth, it wasn't that hard to believe she had convinced all of SHIELD that I was a monster to be cage. With that voice, she'd done worse.

"Take a picture, it lasts longer," I grumbled, digging my nails into my knee in an attempt to reign my anger in. They'd stripped me completely of my weapons while I was knocked out and had been far too thorough. What I wouldn't give to have a sharp object right now.

Light steps resonated in the concrete as she strolled around, taking her time. I would have hoped that someone was watching this on the cameras, to see how she truly acted, but I wasn't stupid. The cameras were either blacked out or on a loop. It wasn't that hard to do when you had the amount of power she did.

I glared through the glass.

She smiled, "Hello, little dove."

"Fuck you."

Tsking mockingly, her grin grew, "Now, now. That's no way to say hello. It's been quite a while since I last saw you. A whole year, I do believe. How very disappointed you must be."

I sneered, "You were _dead_. I killed you. Disappointed doesn't begin to cover it."

She laughed, the sound sending chills to my very core, "Ah, how unfair the world is. The person you fought so hard to be rid of, who you sacrificed so much for, regains life…but not the people you loved. Tell me. Do you have nightmares about when they died? Your bonded and your lover? Do you hear their screams at night and dream of me killing them because of your persistence?"

I was on my feet and against the glass, not even registering I had moved, "_Shut up._"

Ice blue eyes danced with mirth and she grinned, ruby lips tugging between her teeth, "It must _kill_ you. I warned you, little dove. I warned you many times not to give yourself to him. Shifters may be fun to play with, but don't get attached. Their beasts win in the end. And then you had to bond with Morta's little servant. Tsk tsk. But now you've learned your lesson. Sentiment is a weakness. You're just like your father. Both of you get far too attached to your playthings."

"Says the psychopath that tried to kill everyone because big brother was better than her," I bit out with a chuckle.

She walked up to the glass, only a few inches separating us. Her eyes flickered over me, dark blue taking over as she let more of her power come out. Lips a dark red, the corners tilted up with a grin, "That sharp tongue of yours. Always quick on the draw. Things could have been wonderful if you had joined me like you were meant to. This world, while plain, is begging to be recreated. It wouldn't take much. Humans are always eager to be swayed into violence and with a little magic it shouldn't be that hard to remake the Hiddens. A brand new world, Viola."

Growling, I wrapped whatever power I had left around me, "You still don't get it?"

"And what is there to get?"

"No matter what you do or where you go, I will be there to stop you," I snarled, "Even if I have to kill you a thousand times. I'll always be there to hunt you down. You will _never_ win, _Ker."_

Her name was like a curse, spit out and left to simmer in the air. But she only seemed pleased. Chuckling, Ker stepped away as if I hadn't just threatened to kill her, completely at ease.

Her crimson dress hid her tiny steps, long sleeves and a hooded cape hiding the skin below the neck. She didn't look innocent at the moment. No, she looked like the psychotic murderer she really was. Insanity constantly sparkled behind her eyes, long black hair falling like inky smoke around her shoulders. Her skin was pale, almost translucent, but pulsing with the magic she kept around her.

If we were standing beside each other, we would almost look like twins.

My own black hair was braided down my back, no hint of ethereal quality to it. A faint tan still clung to my skin from having worked out in the canyons a couple of weeks ago. My jacket was missing along with my weapon and holsters, leaving me in a Kevlar-enforced tank top Jack had bought me and black jeans I had thrown on this morning before the chaos. Scars littered my arms, back, and mostly my legs. If there were a mirror around, I knew my blue eyes would be hollow. They'd been that way for a year.

That was the contrast between us. She had everything to gain while I had already lost everything I had. But I wasn't one to lose. Not again. Ker had always fought for herself while I had fought for everyone else.

"Why bring us here? Why not attempt another takeover in our world?" I bit out, crossing my arms.

Something flickered and dimmed in her eyes for a brief moment. Fear. Defeat. Anger. I'd seen the look enough to know what it meant. I laughed out loud, not able to contain it.

"You were afraid of us. What's the matter? Didn't like that the bunch of misfits and low-lives that you had mocked as peasants were able to take you down?" I smiled for once, "You didn't want to fight us again. My so called playthings. You were terrified of us so you ran here, a world filled with _humans_. The lowest of the low to you. And you called me a coward?"

Ker snarled, power crackling in the air like lightning, "_You will be silent_. You'll see very soon how little you can do one your own. Your strength may have been your allies but where are they now? You have nothing. And it won't be long before I have wars covering every inch of this miserable mirror of a world. After that, I can simply recreate it to suit my needs."

"That's the problem with you. You underestimate your target," she had underestimated me and the Pack more times than I could count, "They won't sit back and watch you rip their world apart. Quit while you're ahead. There's no outcome where you live a happy life…or live, for that matter."

Her anger vanished, hidden behind a smirk, "Such a lack of faith. We'll see, little dove. For now, enjoy your time in your prison while you can. Look at it this way: living in a cell may be unenjoyable but you're still breathing. And seeing how it shouldn't be that hard to convince the humans with this little act, your execution should be coming very soon."

Giving me a playful wink, she walked back around my holding tank to the door.

"Goodnight, _Lily._" I bit out her fake name, staring blankly in front of me as my blood boiled underneath my skin. Her chuckle was the last sound as the door slid shut.

Lily Abaddon. No one got the joke hidden in the meaning of the names, but I did. It was a warning for those that knew.

_Lilith Abaddon._

Destroyer of the night.

* * *

A couple of days passed. I was going stir crazy. No one visited. No more guests. Every time I went to sleep, I would wake up to a plate of disgusting food and water. I wouldn't see who dropped it off. Every now and then, the cameras would whirl and I'd blink back at it.

The nightmares were the worst part. I would see them all, screaming my name with rage in their eyes. Always questioning how I had let this all happen. Each time I would wake with that same question on my lips. I hadn't asked for any of this. I wasn't a hero. I didn't fight for the world. If anyone had asked me why I led the battle against Ker, I would answer honestly.

I wanted her dead to protect my Pack, my family. The rest of the world could screw themselves if they were left unharmed. The answer hadn't changed much. Now it was more out of revenge than world peace.

I just had to wait for Ker to make her move.

That didn't take long. Sirens started blaring. I glanced up as red lights flashed and noise bombarded my ears. To be honest, I was surprised Ker had lasted as long as she had.

She had finally shown her true colors. Not that that was good, but at least Ker hadn't managed to get them to try and execute me. I figured her own hatred for them all had won out. She hated humans and playing nice around them constantly would have been like pulling teeth.

Rolling forward onto my heels, I stretched out my limps and stood, waiting as all hell broke loose.

Here we go.

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**Please let me know what you think.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Thank you everyone for the nice reviews and story alerts.  
**Please let me know what you think, criticism or chapter is a bit long. I promise, not all of them will be this lengthy.

**Some action and background info in this one.  
**

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**2**

The sirens blared in my ears but I could only hear the thrumming of my heart beat in my head.

I could take care of her. Right here, right now when she was weakest and the lack of magic pulled at her. She was nowhere near as powerful as she had been, after years of gaining strength from the war and death and endless massacres. No, she'd need new wars to gain her strength and I couldn't let that happen. I could snip it in the bud.

An explosion rocked the building nearby and a guttural roar slipped into the room through the cracks. I furrowed my brow. That was not good. Shit.

Scratch that earlier statement. Ker wasn't super powerful but still strong enough to produce the Keres. That was a bit scary.

The Keres were…well, some say her children, but it was more like they were parts of her. They were monsters that acted as extensions of her. They were her and she was them, but separate entities. I hated them. They were a bitch to kill and created more chaos than I liked. If she had released them, it wasn't good.

Scanning over the glass as I had a hundred times in the past few days, I chewed my lip. I didn't have enough energy to produce a hot enough flame to melt it, but there was the possibility I could weaken it enough to smash through it. The downside would be that it would drain my reserves and I needed all the energy I could get. I wished they had left me the damn dinner platter. I could have used that…maybe like a shank or something.

I growled and ran a hand through my hair. Patience. She'd either come to kill me herself or send one of the Keres and I'd get out then. I only had to have patience. Anxiety was running high and my fingers clinched into the fabric of my pants.

This was all easier said than done.

A click sounded off behind me, a faint whisper among the noise that was going on outside. I stiffened and turned around, furrowing my brow as I watched the door to my prison magically open. I blinked, eyes swiveling side to side as I took in the still empty room.

Uh, that was easy.

I didn't move though. There was no one in the room and yet my door opens? Trap. It had to be. I could almost imagine walking through that door and getting my head lopped off or something. I don't care what they say about gift horses and all that crap. Years of seeing horror movies told me that if something opens on its own then you back the fuck up.

"I assumed from that display a couple of days ago you would run out of here like a rabid beast. Have you grown accustomed to your cell?"

Spinning around, my hand instinctively went to the spot my gun would be holstered and grasped at the empty space. I glared at the figure leaning against the wall of the glass cage and tried to ease the tension in my shoulders.

"I'm getting really tired of people sneaking up on me," I mumbled.

The man chuckled, quirking a brow, "If it makes you feel at ease, there aren't many who can sense when I am near."

"Nope. Not feeling any better."

He smirked, "A shame then."

We stood in silence, each of us taking in the other. I was realizing that he was one of the costumed guys I had nearly torched when I had tried to kill Ker. Decked out in gold and green medieval-ish armor, I tried not to raise an eyebrow at the green cape attached. Despite it all, he pulled the look off, odd as it was.

He was lean, not overly muscled but not skinny either. Tall. Freakily tall. He had to be almost a foot taller than me which made intimidation hard, but not impossible. Long, raven black hair was slicked back, curling up at the neck. His skin was pale, the color bringing out the sharp angles of his cheekbones and nose. Fairly attractive, in a way. The guy definitely spelt trouble. I had spent years attracting the type so it was easy to spot.

But it was his eyes that got me.

Bright green with hints of blue in them and mischief dancing with the light. They were achingly familiar and it hurt. My heart jumped into my throat and I tried to shut out the memory of another man with emerald eyes. They looked alike. I didn't like it.

The mystery man tilted his head in curiosity, eyes narrowing in a question, "You're still not leaving. Don't tell me you've changed your mind about killing dear Lily?"

"I'm not moving until I'm sure the second I step out of that door _you_ won't try to kill _me. _That would put a bit of a kink in my plans._"_

He chuckled, "And why would I do that when I unlocked the door for you?"

"I kinda remember almost setting you on fire. People tend to hold grudges about that." Well, some people. The exception being the guy I had been going to marry, but that was a different memory.

The guy laughed, a sound that spoke that the mere idea that I had been a danger to him was absolutely idiotic. "I'm sure they do. However, the current problem takes precedence and I see this as a favorable opportunity for both of us," He grinned, teeth and all, "After all, an enemy of an enemy is an ally. Your cage is free, Miss Huntington. I suggest you embrace the moment."

With a heavy thud, my weapons were dropped to the floor in front of me almost out of thin air. Magic. I wasn't sure if it was because this was a different world or because of whom he was, but I couldn't even sense it on him. No aura. If he hadn't done this trick, I wouldn't have known he was anything but a fancily dressed human.

I didn't like that. Not being able to read people was dangerous and it did nothing to ease my worry at him turning on me.

"Who are you?" I growled, not looking away from his face.

Taking a few steps forward, he drew his height up until he towered over me. There was an assurance in his step, confidence. He walked as if he were royalty, a smug air that only came with a silver spoon. I was willing to bet five bucks that the guy had never slummed it in a tiny apartment with second hand furniture, living off ramen and generic Chef Boyardee.

Having to look down at me, he smirked at my obvious displeasure, "I am Loki, Prince of Asgard and the God of Mischief."

"Fitting," I mumbled under my breath. I'm guessing I didn't respond how he wanted me to because he frowned.

In truth, I was trying to keep from wincing. A pain had shot through me at the mention of his name. His name had been a title in my world; not only that, but a title someone very important to me had held.

Words echoed in my head from years ago, _"May I present the Loki of The Colony."_

The Loki, the Alpha of Alphas. A King of sorts to the Shapeshifter community. How ironic that the actual person was here in front of me, giving me the key to my freedom.

I swallowed and shook it away as I had for the hundredth time this past year. Coincidence. An unfortunate coincidence. Either way, I knew who he was.

_Loki_. God of Mischief (Dealing with gods was becoming a trend I wasn't happy about). Not a Hidden, not a Shapeshifter, not the man I was thinking of.

"Well," my voice croaked as I pushed aside my thoughts, "if you're expecting me to bow or something, you might be disappointed. Bum knee and all that."

Green eyes narrowed and he sneered, "You should consider it an honor that I am assisting you in your escape. A show of gratitude would be more appropriate than sarcasm."

"I probably would be a bit appreciative if it weren't for the fact that you guys locked me in here in the first place!" I bit back.

Blue met green as we stared each other down, only a foot apart. I had to crane my neck to meet his gaze. I hated being short.

Loki refused to look away, only further towering over me, "It was hardly uncalled for. You _did _attack us-"

"You were protecting a murderer! Of course I attacked you, dumbass!" I yelled back.

With a roll of my eyes and a snarl, he turned away, "We're wasting time. You wanted a chance to take her out, here it is. Do well not to waste it." A final glance my way was all I got before the air shifted again and he was gone.

Fucking teleporting bastard. I hated dealing with gods.

I rolled my own eyes. Grabbing my holsters and the scabbard to my sword underneath, I cursed at all the weapons I was going to have to put on.

The outer door to the prison slid open.

He might as well have lit up a neon sign blinking "Get your ass moving."

* * *

There's something about having a weapons on almost every inch of you that makes you think you can take on the world. After years of constantly having some work of knife or gun somewhere on my person, I felt naked without them. Metal and leather felt like a second skin. Armor against the world.

I could hardly remember a time when I wasn't armed all the time.

I'd been trained to be a Hunter, almost like a mercenary that took care of the monsters when humans couldn't understand how. When the Supernatural Crisis happened and the monsters came out of the closet, affectionately called the Hiddens, the world went into a tailspin. No one knew how to deal.

Some learned and became Hunters, others, like me, were born Hunters. We had a natural knack for being able to kill them (now, I understand why, being the daughter to the God of Death and all that). Jack, my mentor and best friend, and I only hunted the out of control Hiddens that posed a threat. Unlike some, if not most Hunters, we didn't go after Hiddens for fun. His brother being one and my own morals kept us in line.

I was damn good at what I did. And even after I learned I was a Hidden myself, maybe the worst kind, it only made me better.

These people didn't know anything about Ker. They didn't even know what she was. The fact that they all weren't lying dead was a small miracle that I could only attribute to her lack of strength. A year ago, there wouldn't have been a living soul within miles.

A year ago. Always a year ago. The line wouldn't leave my mind.

_Focus. _

Alarms were blaring into my ear, everyone shouting back and forth at each other as they struggled to control the damage. No one paid attention to me, but I didn't consider that too odd considering what was happening. Running through what looked like some sort of comm room, I caught sight of a dozen or so military dressed people trying to cover the ventilation shafts, a thick mist trying to pour in through the slits of metal. The mist coiled this way and that like a hand.

Akhlys. Mist Death and one of the Keres. Always a strange one, but no less dangerous than the other three. If she got through, she'd suffocated them all or take them over. Neither was pleasant.

There was a moment where I had to decide what to do. Stop and help them or continue on and take care of Ker. I didn't owe these people anything. They'd locked me up and treated me like a villain while letting the real monster run freely. But that voice in the back of my head reasoned that they had no clue what I was or could do.

I inwardly growled at myself. Sometimes I hated being a good person. Stomping all the way, I marched over to one of the vents they were poorly attempting to cover.

"Move," the words came out a sharp command as I shoved one of the men aside and ripped off the covering. Protests and shouts rose as the mist started to poor in, slithering in like tentacles.

_Let's see if you remember me._

Borrowing the heat from a fire blazing nearby, I concentrated it into my hands and sent it flying straight into the vent. A disembodied voice screamed, the mist moving unnaturally, writhing in the air. The flames pushed it back into the shaft, the shrieks of pain following after. I kept it focused even then, following it back to its source.

I could almost see her. Pale white hair hanging limply and skin pulled tight over an emaciated body, gnarled teeth snarling. The fire caught and she let out another wail, pulling all the mist away from the room. And in a blink of an eye, she dissolved and I let the flames disappear.

Everyone started to calm down. Realizing the immediate threat was gone, they quickly began rushing to help the injured and move onto other places they were needed. I turned and grabbed the man I had pushed away earlier, "Where is the woman who did all of this?"

He shrunk under my glare, eyes flickering all over the face in panic, "B-bottom floor. The Avengers are t-trying to hold her off but….oh god, she has some sort of monsters. I think she's some sort of d-demon. She killed a room full of people without even trying!"

I didn't bother correcting him. Believe me, demons were a lot less dangerous.

"Tell everyone not to fight them. Get everyone together, bar the doors, and _hide. _Just keep away from them. You fight them, you'll die or worse." Turning away, I left the room.

Ker knew I was out. The Keres were a part of her and hurting Akhlys would have drawn her attention. Luckily, Akhlys was the easiest to take care of. It was the other three I didn't want to deal with.

A loud roar unlike anything I had ever heard rocked through the floors. Bottom floor. That wasn't Ker or the Keres. I didn't know what the fuck that was, but I sure as hell didn't want to fight it. Reaching behind, I pulled my sword from the scabbard. I had a feeling I was going to need it.

Finding the set of stairs, I followed them all the way down. Explosions sounded off every few seconds and I had a faint feeling that had to do with Anaplekte, Quick Death. She was fond of explosions. Well, she was fond of implosions too, but I wasn't too worried about that. You needed magic for that. An upside to this world for the moment.

I finally ran out of stairs and from the obvious sounds of battle on the other side of the door, I knew I had hit the right place. The door practically gave way under my pull, smoke and debris floating in the air around me. Bullets fired and screams followed. The sharp smell of blood coated the back of my throat, sharp and tangy like copper. I coughed, trying to get air around the ash and dirt.

Watching the chaos going on, my eyes found the target I was looking for. Ker. Gone was the sweet girl who had hid behind them to get away from me. Her true colors were shining through, power settling around her like a cold heat. She held the guy in patriotic gear by the throat, smirk lifting her lips as her eyes glowed a dark blue. Laughing, she tossed him easily into a woman with bright red hair, sending them both tumbling to the ground with enough force that I was surprised there wasn't a crater.

That inhuman roar I had heard earlier cut through the noise again and it wasn't hard to find the owner. A large green…thing billowed, facing off with an equally large beast covered in patchy fur and crackled scales. Stygere, The Keres of Rage. Its large maw was clamped onto the green monster's arms, fangs sinking in, eyes bright as it dug the nails of its paws into the ground and shook its head around.

The green monster let out another roar and started to beat it over the head with its fist, lifting it up to slam it back down but hardly shaking it loose. I would let it handle him. The longer it could keep its attention, the less work I had. Stygere was a force to be reckoned with and the last thing I needed to deal with was a rage mob headed my way because people got too close to it. If the green monster wanted to deal with it then I'd let him.

I needed to find the other two Keres.

Like I had figured, Anaplekte had already blown a hole into the side of the building and was currently facing off against the guy in the metal suit who was in the air dodging her explosions. He would shoot blasts at her, only for them to explode prematurely or miss her entirely. Hair long and red, almost like dripping blood, black coils of leather looking material wrapped around her body in a strange second skin. The flesh that was exposed was covered in burn mark looking scars. Eyes pure black, she pulled her lips back and let out a hiss as one of the blasts hit her arm. An arrow quickly followed suit, further pulling her attention away.

Both hands glowed bright yellow and she tossed a scattering of small orbs into both men's direction. Tiny blasts went off, forcing the archer to take cover and almost sending the flying armor out of the air. They both recovered and fired back, keeping her occupied.

One left and the one I should be the most worried about.

It wasn't hard to find him seeing how it was Loki of all people fighting the Keres. He was easy to pick out of the crowd, green cape and all. Him and an equally strangely dressed guy with blond hair and a hammer (I could only assume the guy was also a god since the two matched) were keeping Nosos at bay, Loki using magic to keep him from any other people and the blonde attempting to hit him. However, it's hard to hit something that could go from having a physical form to being smoke.

Nosos was the Keres of disease. One touch from him directly was the equivalent of every virus you could ever contract in one. He didn't have any defining features. He was a shadow, a mere black silhouette of a man that shifted constantly in the air. Somehow Loki's magic was keeping him contained but I wasn't how sure that'd last before Nosos adapted and managed a way pass.

He slithered in the circle Loki had created, lingering on the edge for a few seconds. Testing it. Without warning he partially solidified and shoved an arm into the barrier, causing Loki to grit his teeth. One, two fingers pushed through but stopped as the blonde god let out a yell and sent a wave of lightning into him. Nosos flew back into the circle, turning back into smoke.

"_There you are, little dove. Come and play."_

My hand tightened around the handle of the sword. In the chaos, my eyes landed on Ker, standing in the middle staring at me. No more delays. No games. The guy and girl she had taken out earlier were still struggling to get up so it'd be just me and her.

All the rage I felt for her took over, despite my attempts to keep calm and rational. I wanted her dead. No, I wanted her to die slowly, painfully, and begging for mercy.

Nothing mattered but me and her.

"Here we are again. It seems that no matter how hard we try, we can never be apart from one another. Are you ready for this? No allies, no help. Can you face me alone?" Her voice carried clearly, despite the noise.

_Time to found out._

She smirked. I charged.

Swinging the sword around, sparks flew as Ker brought a thin, staff up to block. It was paper thin, long, and razor sharp. And I knew from experience that if I let her, she'd turn the damn thing into a whip that hurt like a bitch.

Even at her weakest, Ker was a powerhouse. Her magic pressed heavily against me, so cold it burned. I gritted my teeth, pushing the sword against her staff and tried not to let it affect me.

"Why must you continuously fight battles that are not your own? There is no need to go against me, Viola. Imagine how much simpler your life would be if you sided with me," she spoke softly, gently. I only glared.

"I am imagining," I grunted and let heat sink into my palms, "And it's just not as much fun." My right hand dropped from the sword's hilt and pushed the fire towards her. But even standing less than a foot away, she countered it with her own magic. The force of the negation was like a ton of bricks slamming into me, sent us both flying apart.

The air rushed out the moment my back connected with the hard floor and I struggled to make myself sit up. My lungs constricted in an attempt to get air. A large crack drew my attention and my eyes widened as a large section of the ceiling straight above me caved in. Panicked, I rolled onto my feet and dodge rolled to the side, shards of concrete and metal cutting into my skin. The ceiling crashed behind me, a spray of dust covering me.

The distraction served its purpose. Cold metal wrapped around my forearms and lurched me forward, drawing blood and cutting into the skin. I bit back a scream and reigned in the instinct to fight against the cord, knowing it would only cut deeper. Blood dripped down my forearms, soaking into the metal of the whip before sinking in. Dammit.

Ker stood a few feet away, handle held gently, "Why must you make everything difficult? Just like your father. You have always had potential, even more than your eldest brother, but you get attached so easily. Sentiment is not an admirable trait, darling."

I hissed at the pain, struggling to get to my knees without tugging against my binds. Blood was falling from the wound now in thick rivulets, my body working to heal it as fast as it could yet not able to with the magic laced into her weapon. Ker tsked at me, giving a small jerk that sent another wave of pain through me.

"Sentiment or not, I still managed to kick your ass last time," I growled at her.

Opening her mouth, sharp retort on the tip of her tongue no doubt, she was stopped short when a blast was sent straight into her chest, knocking her back. The whip fell from her grasp and I shook it off of me in the time it took to blink. I didn't look around to see who had helped (my bet was on the metal guy). My hand automatically went to the CZ strapped to my thigh, ignoring the intense pain from my forearms, and shot off a few rounds. The gun was still loaded with the special hollow points my brother had made, luckily enough.

The ammunition was uniquely designed for magic and wouldn't be shaken off like regular bullets were. We had had to make them closer to the end of the war when it became apparent guns were practically defunct against her. Now, with her as weak as she was, the impact did the trick.

I had managed to hit her in her side and shoulders, wounds dripping blood heavily as the skin around them cracked and burned. She let out a snarl, eyes darkening until everything turned black. The room dropped a few degrees as her power spread. I could hear murmurs of surprise and glanced around, wary of looking away from my target.

The Keres were being called back. All three began to unravel, bodies thinning out and wisping into black smoke. One by one, they sunk into the floor, inky tendrils swimming towards Ker like shadows. Not even Loki's spell could keep Nosos from slipping away. They slowly wrapped up around her dress like snakes, slithering gracefully until finally settling into her skin. With her cloak gone, you could clearly see the dark tattoos on her chest and arms where they lay waiting.

The bullet holes closed up, burnt skin turning pink then completely smooth.

Damn.

"What hope do you have to win, little dove?" she laughed, spreading her arms, "Like I said, you are _alone_. Your friends are gone. Your family: gone. In this world, we only have each other. We are two halves of each other. You can never be rid of me and continue to exist."

"_I am you and you are me."_

I kept my gun trained on her, leaning down to pick my sword up with my free hand. My arms had healed completely, dry tracks of blood flaking over the skin. "You always did talk a lot of shit. Look at you. Running away to another world to get away from a bunch of shapeshifters. Why don't we go back home and then we'll see how powerful you think you are. Or are you afraid you'll lose again?"

A look crossed her face, confusion then elation lighting it up. She let a sharp laugh escape, lips curling up to expose her fanged teeth, "You don't know. My, my, what a startling surprising. No wonder you haven't given up."

My eyes narrowed and I tightened my grip on the CZ. What was she talking about?

Stepping forward closer to me, she paid no attention to the guns trained on her now that the Keres were no longer distracting the people in the room. No one dared to fire a shot or make a move. They only watched on.

"Oh dear Viola. How must it feel to lose everything and not even know it?" Ker smiled, "The portal to come here was one-way. There is no going back. _Home_ is gone to us."

Dread. Cold dread inched through my bones and dropped heavily into the pit of my stomach. _No…_

_ Fuck no._

Her laugh was loud in my head as she realized the words were sinking in, "It's oh so clear, isn't it? Only you and me now. You see, I may have taken away your beloved," she was close enough that I could touch her," but _you_ threw the rest of it away and didn't even blink. You will never see the ones that love you again. For what? Revenge? To be the hero as always? It doesn't matter. You are _alone."_

The words _one way trip_ banged around in my head, the implications like a dagger in the heart. I hadn't said goodbye and there was no chance to do so.

Rage. Despair. It all hit like an anvil.

With a scream, I swung the sword around, mostly missing but managing to land a long slice along her collarbone. She dodged each swing before calling her whip to her, the blade stiffening back into a staff. The gun wouldn't do much with the Keres back inside her and all I wanted to do was hack into her until she was nothing but a bloody pulp.

Shouts sounded off around us and I knew the others were moving in to help. Ker only had to send out a palm and flick her wrist, a wave of power sending most of them flying back with their weapons hitting the floor.

The metal guy managed to recover fast enough, taking off into the air and sending a beam her way. Bringing her arm up, Ker used her power like a shield, the blast bouncing off and hitting him in the chest. He flew back and hit a concrete beam, the structure almost collapsing around him.

I didn't even blink. Using the distraction against her, I sent an elbow into her arm, knocking the staff away. Another swing, another blink, and my sword was stabbed clean through her stomach. She turned sharply, eyes burrowing into mine and I shoved it in deeper.

With a roar, Ker grabbed my throat, clawed fingers digging into the meat of my neck. A wordless hiss left her mouth.

All at once, a shield struck her in the back as lightning hit it, the electricity shocking her body and causing her to convulse. She dropped me instinctively, grasping the sword in her stomach as it served as a conductor. Smoke trailed off her skin, patches of exposed flesh burnt.

I tackled her, not hard enough to knock her down but it didn't matter. I wrapped my arms around her and locked my wrists together, my body keeping her arms stuck between us along with the sword embedded in her.

Ker fought against me, yet I managed to cling on. Rage and hate bubbled into me and I could feel my skin heating. Venom dripped from my voice as I whispered into her ear, "We're the same, right? I burn, _you burn."_

Flames ignited along my skin, swallowing us whole. She roared, fighting harder as the fire licked at her skin and burned every inch of her. I could barely feel the heat, letting it flow over me like a warm blanket, only concentrating on keeping my grip on her flailing body. I wasn't sure how long I could keep it up, adrenaline and fury fueling the magic I had. It wouldn't be much longer. I was exhausted and with nothing to draw on, expending myself farther than I should.

Her arms writhed between us and she bucked in my grasp. Sharp pain knocked the breath from me. Her nails had extended and stabbed into my sides, digging deep and scraping along my ribs. Cold seeped in and with a final scream she shoved all of her power straight into my chest, sending me flying away.

I had enough sense to catch myself from hitting the ground too hard, flames disappearing and body aching. Someone managed to squeeze off some shots, but we could only watch as she sneered, the bullets doing nothing. Her skin was black, bleeding from the burns covering her body and her blue again eyes ablaze with hate.

"You can't win this battle, Viola," Ker snarled with broken, bleeding lips, "There is nothing you can do! I will tear this filthy world apart just as I did yours and when the air is filled with cries and screams and you sit there helpless, I'll rip into your mind and make you watch the memory of me killing your beloved _over and over again _until you beg for mercy!"

I scrambled to my feet, shaking from uncontrollable anger, only to watch as she burst into a thick cloud of black fog, spreading through the room then smashing through the walls and disappearing.

Her name roared through the room and it only took a second to realize it was me screaming it.

Ker was gone.

* * *

****The mythology in my series is not dead on. There's not a lot of info about Ker and all the lesser known gods I like to use so it's all artistic liberties. And there are more Keres than these four, but these are the ones I liked most.**  
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**Please review! (or is it called commenting now? Eh)**


	4. Chapter 3

**Everyone seems a lot more receptive to this now. Thanks everyone so much for all the reviews!  
Finally some Avengers in this chapter. It was originally going to be longer, but I decided to split it up so it wouldn't be too overloaded.  
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**And I promise, questions will be answered soon about Viola and Ker.  
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* * *

**3**

The room was filled with quiet inquiries about others and shouts back and forth about damage reports. Medics were being called and a lot of murmuring about getting someone named Banner some clothes.

But I could still feel all the eyes on me in the chaos. I was tired and bleeding and didn't have any energy left to fight. Numb. Numb was a good word to describe everything. A painful kind of hollowness had settled in from her words and spread throughout my bones.

There was no going back home. I had stupidly chased her into another world without even thinking about the repercussions. All I had thought about was the fact that she was alive (_alive, alive, not dead, why wasn't she dead?)_ and the thought was massively unfair. How could someone so fucking evil come back but not the people that had sacrificed their lives to save others?

How did she get to come back but not him?

She had won again. In one single trick, Ker had taken away everything I had left after her first blow. Family, friends, home. All of it was gone and I hadn't even known it. And I was stuck here, waiting to watch as she tried to take rip apart another world.

What was left for me? Nothing besides to see her dead and bleeding on the ground, her heart in my hands. That was all that mattered. Revenge had always seemed petty. In truth, it was. But I could handle petty. There was nothing else to fight for. No Pack or family to protect. And honestly, self-preservation wasn't all too high up on the list.

Revenge was looking better and better.

The all-too familiar sound of metal sliding against metal drew my attention and I didn't even have to turn around to know what was going on, "If you so much as point that damn arrow at me, I'll break off every single one of your fingers and shove them down your throat."

At the threat, everyone raised their weapons at me, wary that I wouldn't go after them with Ker gone. I turned to face them, struggling to keep the pain off my face from the gaping wounds in my sides, and raised an eyebrow. I wasn't surprised at the action. With the exception of a few odd ones, they were all painfully human. Years of dealing with people scared of magic and Hiddens had made me more than experienced in the matter. Ignorance was bliss and having something unique and dark right in front of your face was frightening to the unprepared.

The archer didn't raise his arrow though. Good choice.

The edge of my vision was starting to darken a bit. I was more drained than I thought, my body moving slowly to repair itself. My leg was starting to shake with the effort of keeping me up and the world kept tilting side to side. If I didn't sit down soon, I was going to pass out.

"Miss Huntington," Nick Fury's voice reached me through the throng of guns, "I believe you have some explaining to do."

Explaining. As if this was my fault. I could practically hear the comment in the tone of his voice. But for once, the fault wasn't mine. They had ignored me. Instead of hearing both sides, they went with her and look where it got them. The sharp chuckle that left my mouth was bitter and more than a bit angry, "You've got to be kidding me. I warned you what would happen. You didn't listen! Don't you dare put this on me!"

The guns lifted even more, shaky hands itching towards loose triggers. I glared, patience gone. In another world (my world, specifically), I would have been empathetic to the lot of them. They didn't know better. Despite the fact that there was apparently a Norse god or two in their midst, Ker wasn't even in the same category as them. They didn't know about the Hiddens or the Originals or the war.

They had no clue about the chaos she was capable of.

But Ker's escape and being locked in a cage for two days didn't help them. It was a reminder that humans were cruel. Cruel to anything they didn't know about or didn't trust at first glance. I'd been raised as a normal human girl, before the Hiddens ever showed up and even after. It wasn't until I was twenty-two that I found out I was a Hidden. How people treated me was dramatically different after that. They feared me and in that fear, they were openly hostile without even knowing who I was. People are frightened of anything that might be more powerful than them and in the order of things, humans were at the bottom.

They knew that. I could see it in the soldier's eyes. They were scared of me and wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger if asked. Because I was the boogeyman made real.

No, my empathy was short and despite being completely exhausted and maybe on the verge of collapsing, I would fight them if I had to.

"I'm going to give you to the count of three to lower the fucking guns or I will make you," my skin was still sizzling from remnants of the magic I had used earlier and I knew that my lack of control over it was causing my eyes to glow again. The fear grew. Glances were exchanged between the soldiers, looking back at Fury to see what commands he would issue and back at me to see if I was being serious.

"One."

Fury didn't break eye contact with me. He was calling my bluff.

"Two."

Stubborn bastard. He didn't know me. He didn't know if I would actually do it or not. Would he really risk the lives of these men to test my limits?

Yes. Yes he would.

"Th-"

"Alright, that's enough," someone that sounded as if they were talking through a megaphone commented, "We've had enough fighting today. Give her a break. She helped us get rid of the wicked witch of the west; the least we can do is _not point our guns at her. _Right, Fury?_"_ In other words, "stop being a dick."

I frowned at the crowd. It took a bit to realize the voice was actually coming from the guy in the red and gold metal suit. But he stepped forward and shoved some guns to point at the ground, face plate swinging up to reveal a handsome face with a goatee. Amused brown eyes glanced my way with only the barest hint of wariness. Cocking an eyebrow, he sent his own glare to the director.

Fury sighed and nodded; the movement was good enough for everyone that they immediately lowered their weapons. A collective breath was let out. I reigned in the magic and let my shoulders sag, relaxing. The last of my magic drained away with the move. My leg finally had enough and I sank to my knee painfully, the impact jarring my bones.

With my healing slowed, a shot of pain went through me every time I took a breath. My shirt was stuck to my skin with blood, I was covered in dirt, and I wanted to pass out. I _really_ wasn't in the mood to play politics.

Unexpectedly, Mr. Patriotic rushed over to my side, only a mild hesitation in his step. He kneeled next to me and with barely a glance to my face, pressed his hand against the stab wounds. I winced and he smiled apologetically, "Sorry, but we need to put pressure on this or you'll bleed out."

"I can't die from blood loss, but thanks for the concern," I mumbled back, "Passing out, on the other hand, is very likely."

He shrugged as if it didn't matter and kept his hand against my side.

"Should we call one of your men of medicine?" the blonde god commented from somewhere on my left.

"Doctors," Loki corrected with an exasperated tone.

I would have laughed if I wasn't leaking everywhere, "No hospital and no doctors. I'll be good…eventually."

Metal suit let a small smile tilt his lips despite looking about as exhausted as I did. He walked a few feet towards me with all the grace someone in large armor could, "Guess this means everybody isn't going to start killing each other. The name's Tony Stark and the man currently copping a feel is Captain America."

"Steve Rogers," the blonde soldier corrected him next to me.

Tony continued on like he hadn't been interrupted, "Gotta say that I was impressed with the light show. Not every day you see a human torch and not turn extra crispy."

"Believe me; it's less impressive where I come from," I snorted, "Guys flying in robots, not so much. Compensating much?"

He paused, eyes narrowing, then broke out into a grin, "I think I'm going to like you. Glad to have you outta the cell."

"Stark. Enough," Fury interrupted with a shoot-to-kill gaze aimed straight at Tony's head. Stark raised his hands in mock surrender.

"Sir," Rogers spoke up, "I still think we need to get her to the med bay, at least to get her checked out."

"Boy scout," Tony muttered.

Sighing, I could feel a migraine starting to come on, "I'm fine. Really. Give it a bit and I'll be fine."

Steve frowned down at me, brow furrowed. I could tell he didn't want to let it go for some reason. Maybe he didn't believe me or he was actually worried about my well-being, but he nodded finally. I had enough problems as it was without adding what was wrong with me biologically.

Somehow, I was feeling less angry. A small part of it probably had to do with Ker's presence, but Tony and Steve's interruption had served as a distraction. The same people that had locked me up had jumped to my aid. This world was weird.

Fury walked forward calmly and stood next to Tony, arms crossed and managing to look intimidating despite being covered in grime and dirt. And like that, my mood started to sour again. "Miss Huntington, we are no longer your enemies." Speak for yourself, "Both of us have the same goal and we merely ask for your cooperation in this matter. You help us and we'll help you. You obviously have very valuable information to share-"

"Which you've chosen to ignore in the past," I growled.

"The decision to go along with Abaddon's information was decided when you attacked _us,_" the red headed woman argued, "You can't fault us for siding with the considerably less hostile person. There was no way to know for sure who or what she was."

I scoffed, Rogers fidgeting next to me nervously as the argument continued, "You could locked her up as well! This is a government agency. Yall's motto is practically 'suspicious until proven innocent'."

"We locked up the suspicious one, if memory serves me well," the archer snapped, arms crossed tightly.

Attempting to stand, I found that my knees wouldn't listen and Steve was keeping me firmly planted to the ground, "Injured or not, I can still kick your ass-"

"This is going so very well," Loki chuckled.

"Enough! Everyone!" a guy with dark wavy hair yelled while buttoning up his shirt, "I have a headache from all of you and I would appreciate a little quiet time. We don't need another appearance from the Other Guy just because you all won't stop arguing."

Silence settled instantly, wary looks now being cast in his direction. He ignored them and gave a mutter of thanks.

"Banner is right. We all have a common goal. We should not fight amongst ourselves," Blondie turned towards me, "Lady Viola, I apologize for our actions. If we had known the truth, it would not have occurred. You would be a valuable ally to have in this fight and we will be at your side in turn."

"I don't need any help. I'll go after her alone," I answered back. They'd only get themselves killed going up against her and I wasn't going to have more lives on my shoulders. I could tell already that they were such easy bait for her. All ego and stubbornness paired along an odd naivety. Ker would find these weaknesses in a heartbeat. It was only a matter of time.

Straightening his spine, Director Fury lifted his chin and stepped into the clearing, "In case you've forgotten, this isn't your world. You're going to need to survive here while we take care of this problem. We can help. Abaddon told us a bit about the differences between your world and this one. You're going to need someone to help get you situated here."

I chuckled darkly, "I don't want to get _situated_. This isn't my home."

Clasping his hands behind his back, Fury met my eyes, a sharp frown tugging at his lips, "Then I promise we'll do everything in our power to try and find a way to send you back home once this is dealt with."

Home. It was the magic word. I wanted to go back badly it clawed at my chest and twisted my heart. Everyone had no clue where I had disappeared to. I had to get back to them, let them know I was okay and that I hadn't gotten killed or abandoned them. If siding with them opened up the option then I'd do it.

That didn't mean I fully trusted him, or any of them. My rule of thumb had always been don't trust military organizations and there was a reason for that. Secrets. They all had them. Dark, twisted things that they'd do anything to keep locked up tight. All it took was opening the wrong door and you were screwed. And I had a feeling SHILED had more than most.

"Do we have a deal?" He raised his hand, eye meeting mine.

Even knowing they probably couldn't do much, my heart jumped in my throat. I wouldn't put my money on them but any help was better than nothing. And he was right. This wasn't my world and I had no clue how different the two were. Survival was key until we found Ker again.

Sighing, I started to stand with a little help from Steve. He looked at me with concerned blue eyes and a slight frown on his lips. Giving him a small nod that I was okay, he stepped away finally. My legs held, strength slowly returning. Meeting Fury's gaze, I straightened my spine, "I don't take orders. I'm rude, blunt, and certainly don't give a damn about this place. If you can handle that, I'll help. But you need to understand that even if this is your world, Ker is a part of mine. My word is final when it comes to how to handle her."

"I'll take that into consideration. Is it a deal?" the Director held out his hand.

This wasn't me signing my life away. There wasn't much of a life left. This was me agreeing to take on theirs. I could only hope they were stronger than they looked or else I was screwed.

I shook his hand, "Deal."

"Good. Welcome to SHIELD."

What had I signed up for?

* * *

**Getting all of their voices and personalities are tough so please excuse this chapter. I promise I'll get the hang of them all soon.**

**As always, please leave a review! Tell me what you liked, didn't like, anything. I'm still trying to decide whether to keep this up or not.**


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